I can’t tell you many people know they should do this but never actually do it. My guess is about one out of every 1,000 follow this law. This is the best-known learning booster but probably the least used. Having said that I don’t think most people understand why this helps you learn.
One of the biggest mistakes people make when learning is to just repeat the information. They just go over it again and again. Their time would be much better spent organizing the information into a way they understand it. Creating a flow chart, making a graph, a list or something that condense the information can really help you retain and use it.
But no one does this. That is until they start to try and teach it to someone. Then this happens naturally. I don’t know why people have this idea that it needs to be more complicated when I learn it and easier when I teach it. Having said that I have been accused of cheating for doing this for a class. The teacher was very confused on how I could cheat on notes. She just told the outraged student that she would look into it.
The next thing teaching the information does is it puts the material in your own words. This is important, because it is easier to remember how you would word something than how someone else words something. I am a big believer in the power of language. I still think it is the most important tool you have to learning. If you can get to the point you can talk about the material (without notes) you know it.
So, what are some practical ways to do this. You could teach it to your family. Mom and dad would love to talk to you about school for an hour. Why do you think they ask so much? But for a lot of people this can come at very bad times. My recommendation for those who lack a person, or pet, to teach is to treat studying like you are writing a book.
You will feel pressured to do a good job because only experts write books. Will your book ever get published? Probably not but you will know the information so much better if you write one. If you don’t believe me give it a shot. Just write a short chapter on each topic and include graphs or charts to make your point. (some subject like English don’t always work well for that last point.) The best part about this exercise is, you don’t need to worry about anything you do when writing an actual book. No copy write laws to worry about. No intellectual infringement. Just use the best parts of everything you find. Just make it shorter than the source you found. It’s like putting rocket fuel in your studying.